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Brunt AM, Haviland JS, Wheatley DA, Sydenham MA, Bloomfield DJ, Chan C, Cleator S, Coles CE, Donovan E, Fleming H, Glynn D, Goodman A, Griffin S, Hopwood P, Kirby AM, Kirwan CC, Nabi Z, Patel J, Sawyer E, Somaiah N, Syndikus I, Venables K, Yarnold JR, Bliss JM. One versus three weeks hypofractionated whole breast radiotherapy for early breast cancer treatment: the FAST-Forward phase III RCT. Health Technol Assess 2023; 27:1-176. [PMID: 37991196 PMCID: PMC11017153 DOI: 10.3310/wwbf1044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Background FAST-Forward aimed to identify a 5-fraction schedule of adjuvant radiotherapy delivered in 1 week that was non-inferior in terms of local cancer control and as safe as the standard 15-fraction regimen after primary surgery for early breast cancer. Published acute toxicity and 5-year results are presented here with other aspects of the trial. Design Multicentre phase III non-inferiority trial. Patients with invasive carcinoma of the breast (pT1-3pN0-1M0) after breast conservation surgery or mastectomy randomised (1 : 1 : 1) to 40 Gy in 15 fractions (3 weeks), 27 Gy or 26 Gy in 5 fractions (1 week) whole breast/chest wall (Main Trial). Primary endpoint was ipsilateral breast tumour relapse; assuming 2% 5-year incidence for 40 Gy, non-inferiority pre-defined as < 1.6% excess for 5-fraction schedules (critical hazard ratio = 1.81). Normal tissue effects were assessed independently by clinicians, patients and photographs. Sub-studies Two acute skin toxicity sub-studies were undertaken to confirm safety of the test schedules. Primary endpoint was proportion of patients with grade ≥ 3 acute breast skin toxicity at any time from the start of radiotherapy to 4 weeks after completion. Nodal Sub-Study patients had breast/chest wall plus axillary radiotherapy testing the same three schedules, reduced to the 40 and 26 Gy groups on amendment, with the primary endpoint of 5-year patient-reported arm/hand swelling. Limitations A sequential hypofractionated or simultaneous integrated boost has not been studied. Participants Ninety-seven UK centres recruited 4096 patients (1361:40 Gy, 1367:27 Gy, 1368:26 Gy) into the Main Trial from November 2011 to June 2014. The Nodal Sub-Study recruited an additional 469 patients from 50 UK centres. One hundred and ninety and 162 Main Trial patients were included in the acute toxicity sub-studies. Results Acute toxicity sub-studies evaluable patients: (1) acute grade 3 Radiation Therapy Oncology Group toxicity reported in 40 Gy/15 fractions 6/44 (13.6%); 27 Gy/5 fractions 5/51 (9.8%); 26 Gy/5 fractions 3/52 (5.8%). (2) Grade 3 common toxicity criteria for adverse effects toxicity reported for one patient. At 71-month median follow-up in the Main Trial, 79 ipsilateral breast tumour relapse events (40 Gy: 31, 27 Gy: 27, 26 Gy: 21); hazard ratios (95% confidence interval) versus 40 Gy were 27 Gy: 0.86 (0.51 to 1.44), 26 Gy: 0.67 (0.38 to 1.16). With 2.1% (1.4 to 3.1) 5-year incidence ipsilateral breast tumour relapse after 40 Gy, estimated absolute differences versus 40 Gy (non-inferiority test) were -0.3% (-1.0-0.9) for 27 Gy (p = 0.0022) and -0.7% (-1.3-0.3) for 26 Gy (p = 0.00019). Five-year prevalence of any clinician-assessed moderate/marked breast normal tissue effects was 40 Gy: 98/986 (9.9%), 27 Gy: 155/1005 (15.4%), 26 Gy: 121/1020 (11.9%). Across all clinician assessments from 1 to 5 years, odds ratios versus 40 Gy were 1.55 (1.32 to 1.83; p < 0.0001) for 27 Gy and 1.12 (0.94-1.34; p = 0.20) for 26 Gy. Patient and photographic assessments showed higher normal tissue effects risk for 27 Gy versus 40 Gy but not for 26 Gy. Nodal Sub-Study reported no arm/hand swelling in 80% and 77% in 40 Gy and 26 Gy at baseline, and 73% and 76% at 24 months. The prevalence of moderate/marked arm/hand swelling at 24 months was 10% versus 7% for 40 Gy compared with 26 Gy. Interpretation Five-year local tumour incidence and normal tissue effects prevalence show 26 Gy in 5 fractions in 1 week is a safe and effective alternative to 40 Gy in 15 fractions for patients prescribed adjuvant local radiotherapy after primary surgery for early-stage breast cancer. Future work Ten-year Main Trial follow-up is essential. Inclusion in hypofractionation meta-analysis ongoing. A future hypofractionated boost trial is strongly supported. Trial registration FAST-Forward was sponsored by The Institute of Cancer Research and was registered as ISRCTN19906132. Funding This award was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment programme (NIHR award ref: 09/01/47) and is published in full in Health Technology Assessment; Vol. 27, No. 25. See the NIHR Funding and Awards website for further award information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adrian Murray Brunt
- School of Medicine, University of Keele and University Hospitals of North Midlands, Staffordshire, UK
- Clinical Trials and Statistics Unit (ICR-CTSU), The Institute of Cancer Research, London, UK
| | - Joanne S Haviland
- Clinical Trials and Statistics Unit (ICR-CTSU), The Institute of Cancer Research, London, UK
| | - Duncan A Wheatley
- Department of Oncology, Royal Cornwall Hospital NHS Trust, Truro, UK
| | - Mark A Sydenham
- Clinical Trials and Statistics Unit (ICR-CTSU), The Institute of Cancer Research, London, UK
| | - David J Bloomfield
- Sussex Cancer Centre, Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals, Brighton, UK
| | - Charlie Chan
- Women's Health Clinic, Nuffield Health Cheltenham Hospital, Cheltenham, UK
| | - Suzy Cleator
- Department of Oncology, Imperial Healthcare NHS Trust, London, UK
| | | | - Ellen Donovan
- Centre for Vision, Speech and Signal Processing, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK
| | - Helen Fleming
- Clinical and Translational Radiotherapy Research Group, National Cancer Research Institute, London, UK
| | - David Glynn
- Centre for Health Economics, University of York, York, UK
| | | | - Susan Griffin
- Centre for Health Economics, University of York, York, UK
| | - Penelope Hopwood
- Clinical Trials and Statistics Unit (ICR-CTSU), The Institute of Cancer Research, London, UK
| | - Anna M Kirby
- Department of Radiotherapy, The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, Sutton, UK and Division of Radiotherapy and Imaging, The Institute of Cancer Research, London, UK
| | - Cliona C Kirwan
- Division of Cancer Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Zohal Nabi
- RTQQA, Mount Vernon Cancer Centre, Middlesex, UK
| | - Jaymini Patel
- Clinical Trials and Statistics Unit (ICR-CTSU), The Institute of Cancer Research, London, UK
| | - Elinor Sawyer
- Comprehensive Cancer Centre, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Navita Somaiah
- Department of Radiotherapy, The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, Sutton, UK and Division of Radiotherapy and Imaging, The Institute of Cancer Research, London, UK
| | - Isabel Syndikus
- Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, Clatterbridge Hospital NHS Trust, Cheshire, UK
| | | | - John R Yarnold
- Department of Radiotherapy, The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, Sutton, UK and Division of Radiotherapy and Imaging, The Institute of Cancer Research, London, UK
| | - Judith M Bliss
- Clinical Trials and Statistics Unit (ICR-CTSU), The Institute of Cancer Research, London, UK
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